


James Marsden

by thefictionaleconomist



Category: Classic Alice (Web Series)
Genre: Break Up, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-06
Updated: 2014-11-06
Packaged: 2018-02-24 08:46:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2575343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefictionaleconomist/pseuds/thefictionaleconomist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The scene in which Andrew talks to Heather post-Ewan's article when she tells him she thinks Ewan's claim has merit. Pre-halloween ball.</p>
            </blockquote>





	James Marsden

She’s not crying when she opens the door. Or visibly angry at him. Which is a good sign, he thinks — until he walks into her room and sees tissues strewn next to her laptop which is open to the video of him and Alice making campaign posters playing muted on a loop. He opens his mouth to say – well, he’s not quite sure what he was going to say because she cuts him off before he can decide.

“I’m James Marsden.”

“I can exp—wait, what?”

She sits down on the bed and looks at the scene playing over and over again. Him ignoring her calls, Cara’s gentle ribbing (and not so gentle pie-eating), Alice’s return. “In The Notebook. Or in Enchanted. Or in the Superman with Brandan Routh. James Marsden’s got a bit of a typecasting problem”

Andrew sits down next to her and pauses the video. “Heather, you’re not making any sense.”

“The Notebook, you remember, I made you watch it. Everyone knows Allie should end up with Noah. It’s who you’re rooting for, it’s the love story the whole movie is built around. But then there’s James Marsden. Who didn’t do anything wrong other than falling for Allie. He’s kind and handsome and witty, he’s even a war hero. But he’s not Noah. And you know, no matter how smart and handsome and dashing he may be, Allie’s not going to pick him. And you don’t want Allie to pick him.”

He runs his hand through his hair and sighs, the kind of sigh that means he’s tired and stressed out, and she just wants to not do this right now, because she knows he has other things to be upset about and she hates to add to his problems. But she also knows this has to happen now.

“There’s nothing between me and Alice. We’re…” He pauses, looking at the stilled image of Alice on the screen. “We’re just friends. We’ve never been anything more, no matter what Ewan McAsshat might write in the paper. I’m dating you. I like you.”

Heather smiles at him, a brittle smile completely unlike how she normally smiles at him. “I know. And I like you. But that doesn’t mean what he wrote doesn't have merit. That doesn't mean there’s nothing between you two. Andrew, you leaned.”

“Again, not making any sense. Leaned?”

“From the movie 'While You Were Sleeping.' Jack tells Lucy that leaning is more than hugging, it’s…You know what, never mind. I just mean that the way you look at her, the way she looks at you, well, if it was a movie, you two would be the leads and I’d be the inconvenient girlfriend to be written off in the penultimate scene. Heck, if this wasn’t you and I wasn’t me, I’d probably be rooting for Alice to end up with you too.”

He’s silent after she finishes for what seems like eternity, but probably is actually only a minute. “I do like you. I really do. I never wanted for you to get hurt.”

She takes his hand and lays her head on his shoulder. “I know.”

They sit in silence like that for a while, neither saying anything before she says, “Is Alice going to be okay? Will she get expelled? Will you?”

He sighs again and this time Heather feels it in her own body, reverberating from where her head meets his shoulder. “I don’t know. I don’t know what’s going to happen.”


End file.
